I thought I would put together a little blog about Enlighten Tooth Whitening as I really can't find much out there in the way of customer reviews. And hey, although this is a (sometimes updated) food blog I figured teeth are also in my face, so it's fine to put here. I think.
I carried out a lot of research on Enlighten before going ahead and got the idea from a friend who had gone through the process before. There are so many lightening choices out there and to be honest it's a bit overwhelming - LED, laser stuff, home bleaching, different gels, ZOOM, in chair for an hour at the dentist type stuff and countless deals on Groupon and co which seem to good to be true (whitening for £69?! - really?)...so yes I was glad to notice my bud's lovely gnashers in the Summer and ask if she had them whitened. Even after that I looked it all up myself and investigated (yes, investigated) different dental practices, prices and what's actually included in that price.
Prices, I found, ranged from about £200 to 'From £600'. The £200 made me wary so didn't go for that one. I'm still not sure why/how the prices fluctuate so wildly but hey ho.
I eventually settled on K2 Dental (www.k2dental.co.uk) which is a short walk (or a bus and a walk if lazy like me) from Hammersmith tube at the price of £395. This includes 14 nights of at home whitening plus a 40 minute in chair session to finish me off. My friend paid a similar price outside of London but just for the home whitening so I figured why not go for the extra session too.
I booked up my consultation appointment for 6 November and went along. I made sure I had a normal dental check up before so I was comfortable there were no holes and that my teeth were in good condition. I went to my usual dentist for that, but I am sure whichever place you decide on for Enlighten will be happy to do a check up for you. So for my consultation the dentist checked my mouth to make sure I was 'suitable' and asked me how much I knew about the process etc. Because of the research I pretty much knew 95% of what went on and I asked a few questions like what can/cant I eat during the treatment etc and got a brief answer but the rest would be confirmed later on. I also asked what sort of mouth wouldn't be suitable and it was things like gum disease, a mouth full of crowns or large fillings that were different colours and the patient had no intention of changing these afterwards, or general really bad tooth condition. I have a root canal tooth which is pretty grey because of the large amalgam filling but at some point I will sort this out with a crown. When my bank balance recovers maybe some time next year.
As some insider info (because this is so secret you are now an 'insider') my teeth are shade A3 at the moment, with my fangs being perhaps an A3.5 as they are a bit darker. This is a normal tooth shade though I think I am more conscious of it these days because I am fairly pale (if you are tanned your teeth may look whiter even at the same shade as mine!) but Enlighten guarantees a shade of B1 which is lovely jubbly. I also drink a lot of tea and coffee (hi Starbucks and your seasonal drinky treats).
Anyhoo, so they confirmed the price and the process and asked if i wanted to go ahead. Yus I said! The next step was taking the retainer molds which was a bit messy. It involved some purple putty stuff in a mouth tray (they measured which size would be best for me first for top and bottom) and doing the bottom of my mouth first then the top. The dentist held the tray in for a while until the putty hardened, then we did the same for the top. It doesn't hurt and is more inconvenient not being able to swallow then I had to clean a bit of putty (then dried) from my face once we were finished. It tasted ok too, a bit like berries.
The retainers/trays take two weeks to be produced so I booked in my follow up session for collection on 20 November. This friday! Woot. I assume what will happen here is I will receive the trays, try them on and be shown how to apply the gel. In this two weeks I have been given a tube of Enlighten Tooth Serum (basically toothpaste) to use in place of my regular toothpaste morning and evening. I think this is to make my teeth a wee bit less sensitive before the gel starts, which is fine with me.
So, to be continued after my Friday appointment!
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